A1 Peak is one of the major summits that stack up along the Mirror Lake Highway in Utah’s Uinta Mountains. UtahOutside.com contributor, Ryan Malavolta, has summited A1 from Hell Hole Basin by way of two different routes. You can read his excellent writeup here. But if you’re looking for a shorter, yet more difficult/adventurous route, then try A1 Peak via Kletting Peak’s west face.
The west face of Kletting Peak has no trails, no signs, and there is nothing easy about it. This is true, undeveloped mountain terrain. Mason Diedrich and I chose this route for our seasonal offering of whiskey and craft beer to Ullr, the Norse God of Snow. Of course such offering must be done from mountaintops where Ullr can hear our prayers and so he doesn’t have to lower himself much to drink up. But not just any mountain will do – it must be a difficult journey for Ullr to consider us worthy, and this route to A1 Peak absolutely fits the bill.
The route starts at a historical marker at a pullout on the Mirror Lake Highway, near mile marker 37. From here, the west face of Kletting Peak is obvious and direct. To get there, hike down a steep slope through evergreen trees to the valley bottom. Aim right for the mountain. There is a stream crossing before the terrain starts to go up. The ascent is not steep at first, but the way is made difficult as hundreds of fallen trees block the way. After climbing over logs for an eternity, things get steep above treeline. Real steep. Pick a way around base cliffs and go into Stairmaster Mode. The hike here is over a thousand vertical feet straight up scree fields, loose dirt and boulders. Aim for a saddle south of the summit, then hike the ridge north to the 12,055-foot top.
At Kletting Peak’s summit, we gave Ullr a pre-offering of whiskey and Akvavit (a Norwegian liquor that we hope Ullr enjoys.) After spilling our sacrifice onto the rocks, it was time to summit 12,377-foot A1 Peak. The two mountains are linked by a 1.25-mile, broad ridge that extends east of the Kletting Peak summit. The hike along this ridge is not too difficult, but the going is slow as boulder-hopping (or mountain Prancercising) is the name of the game. The views, however, are out-of-this-world as you hike along this ridge.
At the top of A1 Peak, we supplicated ourselves to Ullr, sacrificed more quality booze, and drank summit beers in his honor. After praying for snow, we sat there, stunned at the mountainous expense below. I’ve summited several Uinta Mountain peaks over the years, and the view from A1 is arguably the absolute most breathtaking and majestic of them all. Don’t believe me,? Then summit the damn thing and see for yourself… you will be amazed.
To return, Mason and I retraced our ascent route with a few variations. Round trip, climbing A1 Peak via Kletting Peak was 7.5 miles and took us 8 hours. While you can complete this hike is less time (we lollygagged a lot) the miles are hard and slow. Don’t expect to tick off the miles like you would on a trail. This is true wilderness exploring that requires careful route finding. Bring a topo map, have a plan, and most importantly, have fun.
Getting there: You can reach the start of this hike from either Evanston, Wyoming, or Kamas, Utah. Take the Mirror Lake Highway to mile marker 37 and look for the Kletting Peak historical marker on the east side of the road. Park here.